Left Behind
by colours.of.music
Summary: A Chance at rescue is thrust upon the six castaways. But this "Rescue" is risky. It may be safer to stay on the island. The group is torn. some want to leave, others want to stay. What will happen? Terrible at Reviews--Island Trilogy. Please R


This is my alternate ending for The Island Trilogy

**This is my alternate ending for The Island Trilogy. I haven't written a depressing story, and I'm not sure if I can, but I'll give it a go. Please, please, please Review!**

**Basically, this starts right after the second book-Survival.**

Chapter One

Day 18 12:00 AM

Charla woke slowly, coming back to consciousness after a mere four hours of sleep. But her body wasn't in the mood for rest, even though she knew she should be getting it while she could. It wasn't her duty to be on watch—it was Luke's. He was somewhere close by—she was sure of it. But she didn't see him on the beach. Charla wasn't worried, however. Luke wasn't the kind to leave hem hanging. The thirteen-year-old unjustly convicted felon was the most steadfast and loyal of the entire group. He had become their leader, and no one objected. Well, except perhaps J.J. Charla turned to look at the sleeping form of the blonde actor's son. He was convinced the whole CNC boat sinking was planned. He thought they were out there watching the kids struggle to survive in the wilderness. But the nightmare was real. J.J. just wasn't ready to handle that fact, emotionally. If he wanted to believe it was all a set up, Charla wasn't going to stop him. If it kept him sane, she wasn't going to stop him. But perhaps none of them were sane? Perhaps they were all slowly losing any connections that allowed them to perceive what was truth, and what was lies? Maybe J.J. was right about CNC being a whole set up.

Charla shook her head, hard and got up from where she had been lying in the sand, hidden beneath a few large fronds of fern that covered the sand, and hid the kids. Careful not to disturb the others, she left the small sheltered and sprinted down the beach, running parallel with the water. She thought of running into the cold, dark ocean, running till she couldn't feel the bottom any more, to be at the mercy of the ocean, which would surely be more merciful than any island with it's own natural defenses, plus the animal parts smugglers that used it as a base. She shook her head and threw herself into running with even more vigor.

"Charla?" She sidestepped, out of surprise, and lost her course, running headlong into the waves, splashing herself with the water.

"Huh?" She turned around to see who had called her name. Luke. "Oh, hey."

"What are you doing?" It wasn't a rhetorical question, even though Luke phrased it as one, as he went to help her out of the water. She refused his offered hand, and replied "Just, you know, taking a run."

"Where to?"

"Nowhere, really. I couldn't sleep." She said, hoping that explained it. Luke didn't reply, and instead flopped down in the sand just out of reach of the waves. Charla lowered herself next to him. She wanted to say something, but at the moment, nothing was coming to mind. She stifled a yawn, and said "What time is it?"

Luke looked at Ian's watch, which was strapped around his wrist. They had decided whoever was on watch got to use the watch. Charla sometimes view that as torture—you got the ability to see the time got by, and that made it seem even slower.

"It's about 12:05." Luke said, twisting his wrist around in front of Charla, so she could read the LCD screen herself. She nodded, and then leaned back in the sand.

"How long have we been missing?" Charla knew the answer. She added another day each morning. She took great pleasure in adding up the days, because it was another day closer to rescue. She chose not to think of the other option, trying to remain as optimistic as possible.

"Eighteen days." Luke said. "Over Two weeks." Charla wondered what it was like for her parents. She thought about what Rat-Face had told the newspapers. Had he realized what he had down to heir families? Anger built up inside Charla, and she desperately wanted to get off the island, just so she could tell the world what a lying, filthy two faced bastard he was.

"Thinking about Rat-Face?" Luke asked after a moment.

"Yeah. How'd you guess?" Luke pointed at her hand. Charla looked down at them. She had dug them into the sand and they each held a handful of the stuff; she had been squeezing them hard as she had been thinking. "Yeah, I was thinking about him." She repeated.

"If I ever get off this island," Luke started furiously, "There is no where that man won't be able to hide, when I hunt him down. Can you imagine what our parents must be—" Luke broke off and turned away from Charla. "We've been here too long." He finished lamely. Charla nodded and stared up into the night sky.

"The stars here are marvelous, though."

Luke looked up with her, leaning back on his wrists, his palms flat on the sand.

"Mm..." He said, nodding.

"No light pollution. They're so much more beautiful." Charla leaned forward, and drew her knees in, crossing her arms over them, and finally resting her head in the cradle they made. "The stars will probably be the only thing I miss." She said. Luke stared hard at Charla, but she remained silent.

"So you got up because you couldn't sleep and decided to go running?" Luke said, changing the subject. Charla nodded. "I got restless."

"What if you had run into wild boars or something?"

"I'd have outrun them." Charla said, simply. "Actually, I was planning on going in the water, but…" Charla hesitated, looking out over the ocean. Sure, she loved to swim, but the weeks on the island had shown her that the ocean wasn't as reliable as a simple swimming pool. It could be ruthless, and terrifying—but Charla pushed all the thoughts about the shipwreck out of her mind.

"Still want to go swimming?" Luke asked casually. Charla wouldn't meet his gaze, and instead looked over at her hand, resting on the sand, with Luke's dangerously close t it. However, she liked it there. It reminded her that she wasn't alone. She had someone she could trust and depend on with her.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Charla said, hopping up from her perch on the sand, followed a bit more slowly, by Luke. The two slowly stepped towards the water, until their feet were submerged in it. Charla silently dove under the crushing waves, and came up among the smoother ocean waves, where it was deep enough to swim. Luke followed her, and caught up to her. Charla floated peacefully, enjoying the cool water on her sun burned skin. She cupped some water in her left hand and lazily let it fall back into the ocean.

"Are we ever going to escape?" t was a question that constantly occupied her mind, frightening her, intriguing her. When no reply came, Charla turned to look at Luke. His expression was blank, as he stared back at her with a kind of hopelessness in his eyes.

**So? What do you think? PLEASE REVIEW! Tell me what you think of my Luke/Charla Pairing. Please, please, please Review.**


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